Noon Following long flights, aircraft passengers are often tired, disoriented, and anxious to disembark the aircraft. It is extremely common for aircraft passengers to forget and leave personal belongings on the aircraft when disembarking, including jewelry, phones, wallets, headphones, and the like. Items are frequently left below the seat, within a seat pocket, or in the over-head compartment. The numerous storage areas found in Super First Class suites only compound this problem, as items may be left in any one of numerous stowage areas.
Most airlines have enacted safety procedures which provide that once a passenger has stepped off an aircraft, they are not allowed back on. Even if a passenger realizes they have forgotten a personal belonging while on the jet bridge, they are not allowed to return to the aircraft to retrieve it. If aircraft personnel are unable, or unwilling, to retrieve the personal belonging, it will be picked up by the aircraft cleaning crew and taken to a lost and found after all passengers have disembarked the aircraft. If the personal belonging may be positively identified (e.g., by name, phone number, address, etc.), the passenger may be identified and the personal belonging may be shipped to the passenger's address. On the other hand, if personal belongings are not able to be positively identified, retrieving the personal belonging from lost and found may be a long, arduous process. Phone calls often go un-answered, voicemails go un-returned, and there is often no employee attending the lost and found desk. Unclaimed items may be kept at the airport for several days or weeks, at which point they are sold or donated.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that cure one or more of the issues identified above.